Line Infantry

Line Infantry
	30
	2
	185
Unlocked at	Flintlock
Upgrades From	Musketman
Upgrades To	Rifleman

The Line Infantry is a Gunpowder unit available in the Enlightenment Era.

Overview

With the massive proliferation of guns from the middle of the 17th century, the battlefield became dominated by linear tactics, according to which infantry were arranged into long thin lines and fired volleys. A line consisted of 2, 3, or 4 ranks of soldiers. The relatively short range at which smooth bore muskets could accurately hit a target, added to the slow reload, meant that massed formation firing was essential for maximizing enemy casualties. The line was considered the fundamental battle formation as it allowed for the largest deployment of firepower. In the years following the Napoleonic Wars, line infantry continued to be deployed as the main battle force, while light infantry provided fire support and covered the movement of units. With the invention of new weaponry, the concept of line infantry began to wane; men walking in formation line-abreast became far too easy a target. The growing accuracy and rate of fire of rifles, together with the invention of the gatling gun and machine gun, meant that close order line infantry would suffer huge losses before being able to close with their foe. With the turn of the 20th Century, this slowly led to infantry increasingly adopting skirmisher style light infantry tactics in battle, while retaining line infantry drills for training.

Strategy

The Line Infantry is the standard gunpowder unit of the Enlightenment Era, upgrading from and significantly outclassing the Musketman. As gunpowder weaponry and tactics have become more developed, the Line Infantry is now able to form the backbone of Enlightenment armies, and can be effectively used to fight other melee units and protect siege and ranged units.

Unique Unit Replacements

Icon	Unit	Civilization	Abilities
	Carolean	Sweden (Gustavus Adolphus) Sweden (Karl XII)	Starts with the March promotion
	Cushoon	Mysore (Tipu Sultan)	-10% Combat Strength to Enemy Units within 2 tiles Able to store Missiles Receives two Cushoon Rockets when trained
	Grenadier	Austria (Joseph II)	+15% Combat Strength vs. Riflemen Units May perform an extra attack if beginnings its turn adjacent to another Grenadier Unit
	Highlander	Scotland (James VI)	Double Movement in Hills. +7XP for every Great Work of Writing in the city in which it was trained (max 30XP).
	Imperial Guard	France (Napoleon)(with France (Louis XIV) installed)	+8% Combat Strength (37 vs 34) +16% Production cost (260 vs 225) Starts with the Great Generals I promotion If trained in a city with a Courthouse, begins with +20 Experience
	Imperial-Royal Army	Holy Rome (Francis II)	+15% Combat Strength when stacked with a Great General. When trained, begins with the XP afforded to newly trained units in the Capital if that value is greater than the XP afforded by the city in which it was trained.
	Jazayerchiha	The Afsharids (Nader Shah)	+8% Combat Strength (24 vs 26) +10% Production cost (150 vs 165) When starting a turn next to a mounted unit, both units receive +1 Movement and +10% Combat Strength
	Landwehr	Prussia (Frederick II)	Trained faster the more Great Generals you have, more so if at war. +15% Combat Strength when fighting adjacent to another Combat Unit.
	Leib-Gvardia	Russia (Alexander I)	-31% Production cost (175 vs 225) +1 Movement if beginning Fortified; increases to +2 Movement if beginning next to another Leib-Gvardia
	Macchieri	Corsica (Pasquale Paoli)	Stronger and cheaper No terrain movement penalties Damages adjacent units if ending its turn on Hills, Forest, or Jungle Deals more damage with amount of Great Generals owned -15% Combat Strength in open terrain
	Norwegian Ski Infantry	Denmark (Harald Bluetooth) (When Christian IV's Denmark-Norway isn't installed)	+25% Combat Strength when in snow, tundra, and hills Double Movement when in snow, tundra, and hills
	Regio Esercito	Italy (Umberto I)	When trained in a city on your home continent, begins with the March Promotion. When trained in a city on a foreign continent/colony, begins with the Blitz promotion instead.
	Walloon Guard	Spain (Carlos III)	Passively produced by puppet cities When produced, may instead be expended to heal and grant Experience to all Walloon Guards +15% Combat Strength in friendly lands